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ST. LOUIS — Losing a structure or building to an unforeseen natural disaster, such as flooding or the recent hurricanes in Florida and Texas, can be devastating to the owner and its tenants.

The decision to move forward with repairs may not come quickly, but when it does, facility managers and owners should work with a specialty contractor experienced in disaster recovery to get the job done correctly and efficiently. Western Specialty Contractors' branch offices in Atlanta, Ga.; Houston and San Antonio, Texas and Orlando, Fla. have been helping companies recover from natural disasters on the Gulf Coast for over 50 years.

"Bringing a building or structure back to life in the case of a natural disaster takes a certain level of experience and skill," said Chester Scott, branch manager of Western's Atlanta branch. "Special skills are needed to properly assess the damage, develop a recovery plan and initiate the restoration or take steps to mitigate further loss."

When Hurricane Katrina, one of the five deadliest and costliest hurricanes in the history of the United States, struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, Western Specialty Contractors was there to help.

South Shore Harbour Marina features one of the largest boat slips near the New Orleans Lakefront Airport overlooking Lake Pontchartrain. Hurricane Katrina left the covered slips unusable and virtually unrecognizable. Western crews worked to remove any remaining damaged panels and purlins and completely replaced the outer skin of the slips (approximately 30,000 square feet) with interlocking Berridge Zee-Lock panels. Western also replaced the guard house that overlooked the harbor with a new modular version and made renovations to the public restroom and oil containment facilities, which all suffered severe wind and flood damage during the hurricane.

That same year, Western Specialty Contractors came to the rescue of Florida-based Ardaman & Associates after they noticed some leaking windows in their building, resulting from the recent hurricane activity.

Western crews came out and surveyed the building before making a recommendation to re-seal all of the glass-to-glass, metal-to-glass and metal-to-concrete window joints throughout the entire building. The result was a watertight building and a happy owner.